There's no story, just awesome Disney vibes. And the single player campaign is broken up in chapters, but it serves as more of a tutorial and ways to introduce you to different features of the game. You start off with just Mickey Mouse, then as you finish chapters, you get new characters.
Visuals
My first impress of Disney Speedstorm was that opening cinematic, and it is so epic! Obviously, the actual game doesn't quite look like that, but it's close. It has a much more toned down color palette than Mario Kart (yes, I'll be doing quite a bit of comparisons), which makes it look more mature than I was anticipating. As a long time Disney fan, I always associate bright colors and lightness with Disney products, so this is a fun change. It adds a moodiness to the game.
However, once you start unlocking more features, things get cluttered. The menus are messy and confusing. Even the racer/kart upgrade screen has too much going on at once. I wish it were more streamlined, so you knew exactly what you were looking at. I'd much rather selection options to open new menus than have so many things on screen at the same time.
Sound Effects + Music
I love the soundtrack! It's all remixed Disney classics, which is so fun!
Gameplay + Controls
The controls were surprisingly easy to get the hang of, despite my muscle memory for Mario Kart controls. The tutorial does a great job of showing you which buttons are for what, and there's nothing complicated here. Just your usual accelerate, steer, drift, items, and a manual boost. The only thing the tutorial left out was using items backwards, which I didn't know was possible until it popped up on a loading screen. Obviously it's a thing I'm use to in Mario Kart, but I didn't make any assumptions going into Disney Speedstorm.
You earn upgrades and customizations as you complete goals and win races. As far as I could tell, the kart customization is just cosmetic. You have to upgrade your driver to get better stats and skills, which is fine. Unlocking new drivers is probably the most interesting part of this game. I gotta collect 'em all!
There are items, which are called skills here (why?). You can pick up one at a time to use whenever you like. They seem fairly standard, like things you can throw at other racers to knock them off track, or speed boosts. Nothing too out of the ordinary, except for one that seems to warp the track. It felt similar to the lightning bolt in Mario Kart, but instead of shrinking you down, it makes the track dark and flipped and the sound is warped. I'm not describing it very well, but it was interesting.
Disney Speedstorm has multiple game modes. There's Single Player, which is broken down into three modes, plus various Multi Player modes. In Single Player, you start with the Starter Circuit, which is three chapters of what is essentially a tutorial that rewards you with your first four racers, if you didn't purchase a founder's pack. Each race has three goals that range from winning, using skills, and using other race mechanics. Along the way you'll unlock other game features such as the shop and limited events.
The main mode is the Seasonal Circuit and Golden Pass. These are comprised of ten chapters with amazing awards. Of course, you have to pay for the Golden Pass to claim even better rewards. I just focused on the free portion and got lots of goodies. Each season had its own coin currency that can only be used during that season to get character upgrades and Universal Boxes. I got the latter, since each one has three items with the possibility to upgrade materials or characters.
Finally, there's limited events. These are timed challenges that change out daily or weekly. Some are a one-and-done, while others give you three tries per day to complete all of the goals in that particular challenge. Most of them are similar to the Starter Circuit goals, but you may have to complete an item more than once to clear it. You may also have to play multiplayer.
As for multiplayer, you can play locally or online with friends, or you can do Ranked Multiplayer which gives you rewards. One of the rewards is yet another currency that can be used on certain items and boxes in the shop. I only played a few races to complete the seasonal goals so far, so I can't comment too much on this area of the game. I did manage to win two races though, so that was exciting. And it seems like most people (at least at low rank) play with Donald, which is no surprise because that duck is aggressive. Goofy is my preferred driver for now.
Replayability
Racing games are by nature replayable. You can always improve your times and driving skills, or just repeat your favorite tracks. The goals system also sets you up for repeating tracks if you didn't fulfill all of them on the first go.
Plus there are daily goals that give pretty good rewards, especially if you're at a higher level. This definitely keeps you coming back as much as possible. And the Season Pass will keep the game fresh every several weeks to draw you back in even if you don't play daily.
Overall
Disney Speedstorm surpassed my expectations. I just expected it to be Mario Kart with Disney characters and micro-transactions. But it is very much not that! I love having a set list of goals that change out timely, as well as a long list of specific achievements to be done any time. I feel like I have a purpose when playing rather than just popping in, seeing the new tracks, and leaving when done.
Visuals
My first impress of Disney Speedstorm was that opening cinematic, and it is so epic! Obviously, the actual game doesn't quite look like that, but it's close. It has a much more toned down color palette than Mario Kart (yes, I'll be doing quite a bit of comparisons), which makes it look more mature than I was anticipating. As a long time Disney fan, I always associate bright colors and lightness with Disney products, so this is a fun change. It adds a moodiness to the game.
However, once you start unlocking more features, things get cluttered. The menus are messy and confusing. Even the racer/kart upgrade screen has too much going on at once. I wish it were more streamlined, so you knew exactly what you were looking at. I'd much rather selection options to open new menus than have so many things on screen at the same time.
Sound Effects + Music
I love the soundtrack! It's all remixed Disney classics, which is so fun!
Gameplay + Controls
The controls were surprisingly easy to get the hang of, despite my muscle memory for Mario Kart controls. The tutorial does a great job of showing you which buttons are for what, and there's nothing complicated here. Just your usual accelerate, steer, drift, items, and a manual boost. The only thing the tutorial left out was using items backwards, which I didn't know was possible until it popped up on a loading screen. Obviously it's a thing I'm use to in Mario Kart, but I didn't make any assumptions going into Disney Speedstorm.
You earn upgrades and customizations as you complete goals and win races. As far as I could tell, the kart customization is just cosmetic. You have to upgrade your driver to get better stats and skills, which is fine. Unlocking new drivers is probably the most interesting part of this game. I gotta collect 'em all!
There are items, which are called skills here (why?). You can pick up one at a time to use whenever you like. They seem fairly standard, like things you can throw at other racers to knock them off track, or speed boosts. Nothing too out of the ordinary, except for one that seems to warp the track. It felt similar to the lightning bolt in Mario Kart, but instead of shrinking you down, it makes the track dark and flipped and the sound is warped. I'm not describing it very well, but it was interesting.
Disney Speedstorm has multiple game modes. There's Single Player, which is broken down into three modes, plus various Multi Player modes. In Single Player, you start with the Starter Circuit, which is three chapters of what is essentially a tutorial that rewards you with your first four racers, if you didn't purchase a founder's pack. Each race has three goals that range from winning, using skills, and using other race mechanics. Along the way you'll unlock other game features such as the shop and limited events.
The main mode is the Seasonal Circuit and Golden Pass. These are comprised of ten chapters with amazing awards. Of course, you have to pay for the Golden Pass to claim even better rewards. I just focused on the free portion and got lots of goodies. Each season had its own coin currency that can only be used during that season to get character upgrades and Universal Boxes. I got the latter, since each one has three items with the possibility to upgrade materials or characters.
Finally, there's limited events. These are timed challenges that change out daily or weekly. Some are a one-and-done, while others give you three tries per day to complete all of the goals in that particular challenge. Most of them are similar to the Starter Circuit goals, but you may have to complete an item more than once to clear it. You may also have to play multiplayer.
As for multiplayer, you can play locally or online with friends, or you can do Ranked Multiplayer which gives you rewards. One of the rewards is yet another currency that can be used on certain items and boxes in the shop. I only played a few races to complete the seasonal goals so far, so I can't comment too much on this area of the game. I did manage to win two races though, so that was exciting. And it seems like most people (at least at low rank) play with Donald, which is no surprise because that duck is aggressive. Goofy is my preferred driver for now.
Replayability
Racing games are by nature replayable. You can always improve your times and driving skills, or just repeat your favorite tracks. The goals system also sets you up for repeating tracks if you didn't fulfill all of them on the first go.
Plus there are daily goals that give pretty good rewards, especially if you're at a higher level. This definitely keeps you coming back as much as possible. And the Season Pass will keep the game fresh every several weeks to draw you back in even if you don't play daily.
Overall
Disney Speedstorm surpassed my expectations. I just expected it to be Mario Kart with Disney characters and micro-transactions. But it is very much not that! I love having a set list of goals that change out timely, as well as a long list of specific achievements to be done any time. I feel like I have a purpose when playing rather than just popping in, seeing the new tracks, and leaving when done.